Jeff Bobo

MOUNT CARMEL — A higher grade, coarse type of asphalt will be used to resurface a 200-foot section of Hammond Avenue that has been the site of numerous crashes in recent years.

On Monday evening, the Mount Carmel Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved a low bid of $395,926 from Pave-Well Paving Co. of Blountville to resurface 12 streets.

That was well below the $500,000 maximum expenditure that the BMA set for road projects this fiscal year.

The curve at the 800 block of Hammond Avenue is literally the smallest and least expensive aspect of Mont Carmel’s overall paving projects, but it’s arguably the most important.

There were 13 accidents at that curve in 2012, including a head-on crash in December involving a mother picking up small children from school. It was after that December wreck that improving safety at the curve became a top priority of the BMA.